TOKYO -- I've been writing about prototype high-definition video disc players for a long time, so it's great to finally be able to report that they're coming. At the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, three companies announced their first players along with prices. Two have even been specific about the month they'll be released, although we still don't know precise dates.
All three companies are Asian but, unlike most consumer electronics products from this region, it looks like the players will be going on sale first in the United States. Several high-definition movies were also announced at CES, so there's more than just price on which to base a decision whether to go with the HD-DVD or Blu-ray Disc format. That is, if you're going to rush out and buy a high-definition player at all. It's expected that many consumers will sit out the format battle and wait until one emerges victorious.
Toshiba has announced its first HD-DVD players. There will be two models, a low-end player called the HD-A1 priced at $500, and a second player, the HD-XA1, priced at $800. Both will output a 720p and 1080i (720 line progressive scanning and 1080 lines interlaced scanning) high-definition signal via High-Definition Multimedia Interface, or HDMI, to a compatible HDTV.
Both products can also play current DVDs and will convert a standard-definition picture from DVD to high definition, which is said to make it clearer. The machines also support a number of audio formats that are included in the HD-DVD specification, including Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, and DTS HD. The more-expensive HD-XA1 player has four digital signal processors, said Toshiba. Look for both players in the U.S. from March this year. Launch details for other markets have not been announced.
Samsung Electronics is planning to launch its first Blu-ray Disc player in April of this year at a price of about $1000. The BD-P1000 can output high-definition video on an HDMI at 720p and 1080i resolutions. That's the same as the Toshiba players and means that both first-generation high-definition optical disc players won't be able to output a signal at 1080p, which is considered the best of several high-definition picture standards. Samsung didn't implement 1080p in the interest of speeding up development. The player will be available first in the United States.
Leave it to high-end video and audio products maker Pioneer to announce the first high-definition video disc player to support 1080p output. The standard will be available in its Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-HD1. This player will be marketed under the Pioneer Elite brand in the U.S. Arriving in June, at a price of $1800, the unit is complaint with the Digital Living Network Alliance guidelines. This should ensure that the player will plug into a home network and interact with other DLNA-compatible products. It holds Microsoft's Plays For Sure certification to ensure compatibility with Microsoft-protected content.
Sony is launching a new version of its electronic book reader shortly, and the company has high hopes for it. Called the Sony Reader, the handheld device is about the size of a paperback book and uses an electronic display that simulates the look of real paper better than most displays to date. Books can be stored in the device's internal memory or on Memory Stick or Secure Digital memory cards, and the battery will power the Reader for about 7500 page turns. It will read Sony e-book files and also supports PDFs, JPEG photos, MP3 files, and some Web content. The reader will be available in the U.S. in the first half of the year; pricing has not yet been announced. Sony will sell electronic books via its Sony Connect online store.
The latest DVD camcorders from Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) are the first to combine a 3CCD sensor set-up with DVD, according to the company. This means they use three image sensors--one each for red, green, and blue--and should thus deliver a better picture than competing cameras with just one sensor. There will be two models, the VDR-D300 and VDR-D250.
The VDR-D300 uses more of each CCD sensor for capturing video images to make for a sharper picture; it can also capture higher-resolution still images. Both models have a 10X optical zoom lens and are compatible with 8-centimeter DVD-RAM/R/RW media. The VDR-D300 will be launched in Japan on February 1 for about $1053; the VDR-D250 will be available from March 1 for around $877.
Nothing but the largest living room would do for this latest prototype from Panasonic. The company has developed an impressive 103-inch plasma display panel. For Panasonic, perhaps the most important thing about the size is that it's 1 inch larger than panels shown in 2005 by two of its rivals, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. The screen has a full high-definition resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels and a 3000:1 contrast ratio. There's no word on price, commercialization plans, or even the weight of the monster screen, but Panasonic did hint that it may go on sale at some point. One-upmanship on the size of TVs is now always a part of current trade shows like CES.
If you haven't upgraded your cell phone to a third-generation model yet, you're clearly falling behind the times. Samsung has just demonstrated a cell phone that puts 3G models to shame. The prototype is being developed for Vodafone Group and will be compatible with High-Speed Downlink Packet Access, a new data transmission system for use on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access networks. The cell phone can support transmissions at up to 3.6 megabits per second, or about ten times faster than those superfast 3G phones we've been hearing so much about.
Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
